The Second of Only 3 Ways To Grow Your Business: Part 2

Yesterday, I wrote about how to grow your business can grow in only 3 ways, one of which is to get customers to spend more with you.

Today I'll give you a 4-step process you can to use to get them to do just that, with God's help.

You can do this in less than 45 minutes, in the morning or during lunch.

Here it is: 4 steps to getting customers to spend more money with your business ...

Step 1: Pray (5 minutes)

You pray first because, matter how efficiently you do anything, you'll never be effective if you do the wrong thing.

A humble prayer offered to God for the right reasons, helps you do the right thing -- every time.

Try this prayer for guidance: "Heavenly Father, thank you for the many good things you make possible in my business and in my life. You are the source of every good thing I have. I ask You now for guidance in growing my business. Specifically, I ask you for ideas to help me serve my customers better so that they purchase more from me. I thank you for hearing this prayer and for the guidance you offer, for the good of all involved. I thank you with confidence for the insights you now provide to me, in the name of Jesus Christ, your son. Amen."


Step 2: Brainstorm 20 Ideas (15-30 minutes)

Now comes the fun part. With God's guidance, you will now put pen to paper and WRITE (not type, not daydream) down ideas until you get at least 20. Not 5, not 17 -- 20.

Why 20?

By forcing your brain to hand over 20 ideas, you blow past the easy and logical one that are likely to come out in the first 5 or 10. You absolutely will get at least 2-3 creative, new ideas doing this that you would not any other way.

Start by writing this question at the top of a blank sheet of paper: "How can I get my customers to spend more with me?"

Then, start writing. Crazy ideas, brilliant ideas, old, or new, don't stop and don't censor yourself until you get to 20.

You have God's help, remember? You can do this.

Try these ideas for starters ...

• Raise your prices 10%. Test your results over the next 30 days. Does revenue go up or down?
  
• Package products or services together. Combine two or more of your most popular items into a "value package" that gives more value to customers and more revenue to you.
  
• Expand your product line. Add at least one new product or service to your line this month. ASK your customers what they want. Are you providing everything they need? If not, extend your line! (As of this writing, you can create a free online survey and use it for 30 days at www.zoomerang.com).
  
• Add-on sales. Resolve to ask every customer at the point of sale: “Anything else?” Be ready to suggest something specific. If you use an online shopping cart, use the "upsell" feature. (Need a shopping cart that does that? Try 1Shoppingcart -- I have used it for 6 years and their Upsell Express converts 10-15% of all orders to add-on sales, in my experience.)

Step 3: Prioritize Your Ideas (5 minutes)

After you come up with at least 20 ideas, it's time to prioritize them. What's the best first thing you could do to get more customers? The second? Third?

Stop with your top three, for now. Otherwise, you'll try to do to much and end up doing nothing.


Step 4: Take Action (5-15 minutes)

Never leave the site of a brainstorming session without taking at least one step toward implementing your best idea.

Tip: If you have time, sit down and actually put your new idea completely into practice.

But in any case, do something -- anything -- right away to build momentum.


That's it for this 4-step, God-guided process for growing your business by getting customers to spend more with you.

Next time, I'll share the final way to grow your business, by getting customers to buy from you more often.